I put a lot of blame on AV, I have never liked him because he puts his ego in front of the team, he loves his plumbers and they can do no wrong. While on the other hand players he does not like is on a short leash and gets away with bad game after bad game.

I was at the game last night and the shots on net was indicative of the game and the Canucks got the home town advantage. So no one can say they played a good game.

Edler has not been the #1 D man for the past couple of months, his play has been half assed and there was minimal big hits that was expected from him. If he was Ballard after many games he would be benched and in game he would be sitting on the pine. Look at last night on I believe the 2nd goal, Edler should of ridden the pine for 5 minutes, he must be made more accountable for his game and maybe it would wake him up. This is the coaches’ job to manage the players and AV did not do it last night.

The PP is going at 12% since the Boston game something like 16 for 130, don’t remember what they said last night on the radio. Why on earth have they not changed it up, the PP is so predictable and there is zero urgency from the team. Again this is something the coached manage and making a change in 3 of the playoffs is too late, this should have occurred 10 games before the end of the season.

I know everything that was said about CH and his parent issues but again that was a trade done at the wrong time. The PP 2nd unit would be a hell of a lot better with CH on it vs. who is there now. I don’t blame this one on AV but I assume he has some say in the deal. I also don't say that having CH would have made a difference but when he was on the team the PP 2nd unit was better, correct?

Down 2 – 0, can they come back? Sure anything can happen but that mystery switch needs to be found and soon.

The Kings have been out working the Canucks & and showing more discipline. With Daniel gone there's no talent gap to compensate for work ethic. It's not unusual for Sutter teams to out work the Canucks.

Reefer2 wrote:I put a lot of blame on AV, I have never liked him because he puts his ego in front of the team, he loves his plumbers and they can do no wrong. While on the other hand players he does not like is on a short leash and gets away with bad game after bad game.

The PP is going at 12% since the Boston game something like 16 for 130, don’t remember what they said last night on the radio. Why on earth have they not changed it up, the PP is so predictable and there is zero urgency from the team. Again this is something the coached manage and making a change in 3 of the playoffs is too late, this should have occurred 10 games before the end of the season.

I know everything that was said about CH and his parent issues but again that was a trade done at the wrong time. The PP 2nd unit would be a hell of a lot better with CH on it vs. who is there now. I don’t blame this one on AV but I assume he has some say in the deal. I also don't say that having CH would have made a difference but when he was on the team the PP 2nd unit was better, correct?

Down 2 – 0, can they come back? Sure anything can happen but that mystery switch needs to be found and soon.

Gillis got the players that AV wanted, front loading the team with plumbers, meat and potato's and shut down specialists. Is it no wonder we have terrible puck possession and can't score and that our PP has been worst in the entire league over the last 3 months, which makes even more sense to trade the player who centered your 2nd unit PP. You all know I'm a fan of fan of Puck Possession, intelligent hockey players. What the fuck has happened to our high octane offense, puck possession, cycling hockey team? Again, no offense to Kassian, he's innocent in all of this, he may turn out to be an OK player 2-3 years into the future, I ain't seeing it, but that trade was just damn stupid. Hey, I don't mind trading CoHo, I guess, not really, but for a player who was parked in the AHL when we are trying to make a run for the Finals? Why him of all fucking people, oh I forgot, he was the answer to Milan Lucic. Fucking Hell. Zack played a whopping 6 minutes last night with 8 shifts, holy crap. Trading a player who provided us with 16 goals, in his rookie year, great at setting team mates up along the half wall, patient with the puck, hard to knock of the puck, doesn't give up Puck Possession all that easy and giving your 2nd unit PP some life??? It's an indication to our lack of depth in the skill department at forward when you see the 2nd unit PP. This is the kind of trade that sets a team back years, that gets GM's fired, if it doesn't work out. Could be Naslund for Stojanov all over again. Ya just don't trade skill for meat and potato's, seriously. Fucking sign a Goddard if you feel that way. It's funny, all the lame criticisms that Naslund received when he was young, back in Pittsburgh and early on in Vancouver were almost the same as what CoHo is getting now, 'a liability on defense, not strong enough, etc. etc. Totally ignoring the skill set and letting said player get a little confidence and maturity to capitalize on that skill set which cannot be taught. But hey, we got a player who can fight, which is mightily important in the playoffs.

I think Kesler's monster season last year was an anomaly, and that he is truly playing up to his capabilities this season, the two way 2nd line centre that he was always projected to be. I don't think that Kesler is an elite 1st line high end offensive centre-man, but a true Shut Down Centre who can score 25 goals a year, which makes even no sense as to why we traded the skill set of Cody Hodgson. Cody Hodgson is more of the classic set up man centre-man than Kesler is, in the Hank Sedin mold. Using his line-mates a helluva lot more effectively than Kesler. Again, there were a few times last night like every game where Kesler had great opportunities to use his linemates but instead chose to take his patented low percentage wrister.

You all know how I feel about Booth, dumb, has his head buried in the ice when he has the puck and no playoff experience. For all my frustrations with Samuelsson, he was a crafty player and had an amazing shot but most importantly, he comes with loads of playoff hockey experience. He's been playing great hockey in Florida lately, he picked up an assist on both of Florida's goals last night, he most likely would be helping fix some of our scoring woes right now, especially on the 2nd unit PP. Booth is just so not a PP player.

I think we really miss a player like Torres, he was a cannon ball out there, and kept the other teams D on their toes. Great at creating puck turnovers due to his hitting/forchecking. Can't help but wonder how a Torres/Hansen 3rd line would look.

Probably the biggest player loss was Erhoff. Yes, he got a crazy contract, but sometimes crazy contracts you have to sign, but hey we have Ballards 4.2 million and the great Booths 4.5 instead, those contracts give us may more in return as to what Erhoff would be providing like um, a great point man on the PP, a great puck rushing D-man, great hitter, great at puck possesion, getting the puck out of danger, smart, big, strong, blah, blah, blah. Need I say more.

You can really see why Higgins has been a journeyman his whole Pro Hockey Life, he looks really weak and ordinairy and behind the play out there, bouncing off L.A. players, totally non-affective and for all of Lapierre's love he gets around here, he is terrible with the puck, seriously.

Anyhow, like Leves says. I'm a braying, negative donkey for not being too hip on the team and for the job that Gillis has done with the great team that he inherited from past management. I will be curious to see Gillis true worth now that the team the previous management built has gone full circle and seemingly past their prime.

If the Canucks bow out in the first round, there is no choice to blow things up. I see a ringing similarity to what happened in Philly, they go to the Finals with Richards and Carter against the Blackhawks, lose and then the following year, stink the joint out in the playoffs and bow out early. What happens, they blow it up, which was the smart thing to do. MGMT there saw that the core group needed a change and they did it the right way. Nothing but a promising future in Philly now with that amazing young group of players they got there. That has to be the quickest rebuild in Hockey History. Gillis will have no choice but do the same as to what Philly did. And will have to be a lot more than trading a goalie. The real smart thing would have been, keep CoHo and trade Kesler but ya know, can't be done now.

Anyhow, Mr. Negative will stop now.

Last edited by RoyalDude on Sat Apr 14, 2012 10:08 am, edited 3 times in total.

"I just want to say one word to you. Just one word. Are you listening? - Plastics." - The Graduate

clem wrote:The Kings have been out working the Canucks & and showing more discipline . With Daniel gone there's no talent gap to compensate for work ethic. It's not unusual for Sutter teams to out work the Canucks.

?

I'll disagree. First, because you can't measure "work ethic". Second, I don't see how you can be "out worked" and still get almost 50 shots on net and double the scoring chances. Third, I don't know what your definition of "discipline" is, but just in the third period I saw Doughty losing his mind and screaming at Bieksa, then tomahawking Lapierre in the head, Brown jumping on Sedin inside the net, Richards elbowing Kesler. That's showing equal or less discipline.

Actually RD as negative as your posts are/appear they are a needed input to give yang to the Ying if u will. For me personally,as far as the team goes...I am a follower a sheeple . I get mad I get happy whatever, but your negative nancy wants also keep me grounded to some degree anyway...so I thank you for the other side of my shiny coin...

I pretty much agree with everything Royaldude said..............but I'll also say this.......with the risk of sounding ridiculously cliche.

It ain't over till it's over. Period.

Canucks came back against the Flames from a 3-1 deficit in 1994 and look what happened. Boom.

In the early 90's, the Canucks came from behind to smoke the Jets in 7 after being down 3-1. Boom.

Detroit Redwings in 2002 and the Boston Bruins last year began both of their 1st round series down 2-0.....and came back to win......and then went on to win Stanley Cups. In fact - Boston were down 2-0 against us as well.

My point is this: Comebacks can happen, and it's not the end of the world if it doesn't. If the Canucks are destined to bow out it in 4-5 games in the first round this year? Great. Go have a long summer to recouperate, get your mind back on things, get some pussy, and start fresh for next season. Period. Meanwhile - Gillis can use one of Schneider or Luongo to get some much needed scoring help in the off-season. If Gillis ever had a chance to make up for the Hodgson deal, a Schneider or Lou deal would be it. Voila - we get another scoring forward back in return to give us 3 solid scoring lines again.

Either way - it's a win win scenerio. We win? We move towards winning a cup and becoming legends in the city of Vancouver. We lose? We have a nice off-season, make the necessary adjustments, and get pussy. If I'm a player on the Canucks, this would be my exact line of thought.

clem wrote:The Kings have been out working the Canucks & and showing more discipline . With Daniel gone there's no talent gap to compensate for work ethic. It's not unusual for Sutter teams to out work the Canucks.

?

I'll disagree. First, because you can't measure "work ethic". Second, I don't see how you can be "out worked" and still get almost 50 shots on net and double the scoring chances. Third, I don't know what your definition of "discipline" is, but just in the third period I saw Doughty losing his mind and screaming at Bieksa, then tomahawking Lapierre in the head, Brown jumping on Sedin inside the net, Richards elbowing Kesler. That's showing equal or less discipline.

Work ethic = a moral commitment to hard work = doing it on a consistent basis.

Discipline in hockey relates to being in the right position & taking the right man at the right time.Scrums are part of play off intensity. Work hard & hold your own - just like on the boards - just like you do to take & hold the right position.

The city of Vancouver, for the most part, needs to become more levelheaded.

Pitsburgh is in the exact same boat as us and I don't see them PMS'ing for the most part. Fuck - it's a best of 7 series.

Canucks outplayed the Kings last night and if it wasn't for a few unlucky bounces here and there on our special teams, we would have won.

Hell - in recent years, we've seen THREE teams come from 3-0 series deficits to tie it at 3..........one of those teams that actually came all the way from behind.

One last thing - anyone with half a brain knows that the Kings aren't a "real" 8th place team. There is a reason why many hockey pundits predicted that they would come out of the West this year before the season started.

Fans and media need to chill out a bit and realize that this isn't a life or death issue.

The interesting thing is that outside of Erhoff (12 points), every key component from last season's playoff run is still on the team. Save perhaps Torres (7 points).

Samuelsson was injured before he went out. He only played 11 games and had 1 goal.Hodgson did nothing in the playoffs, well he had one assist.

So you have Kassian instead of Tanner Glass, which is a saw off. And then you have Booth instead of Oreskovic?

So what gives?

Lack of confidence. And lack of Daniel Sedin.

This crap about needing a rebuild is hilarious. A rebuild? They had 111 points. Do you rebuild after that? I mean seriously, do you?

Their confidence is shot. This team has shown that in the face of adversity, over the past 4 season they have more often then not folded their tents. They are mentally soft and their confidence is shaken easily. When they are down they rarely rise up. But, when they are leading things are just peachy.

If the Nucks can get a lead on these guys, they will be fine. But without it they fold like cheap tents, as they usually do when the going gets tough. Whatever causes it, I'm not sure. But methinks it has to do with fan and media hysteria planting seeds out doubt whether consciously or subconsciously long before the season or playoffs even begin, combined with said history of folding. Like self-reinforcing vortex of criticism and doubt.

I'm not sure what will happen next, but this team doesn't require an overhaul. Gillis isn't a bad GM. AV isn't a bad coach. Luongo isn't a bad goalie (though goals 2 and 4 were back breakers). They just need to believe in themselves and try to overcome some adversity (much like they did vs Chicago in game 7). No need to start talking about dismounting the core.

Farhan Lalji wrote:Either way - it's a win win scenerio. We win? We move towards winning a cup and becoming legends in the city of Vancouver. We lose? We have a nice off-season, make the necessary adjustments, and get pussy. If I'm a player on the Canucks, this would be my exact line of thought.